We are designers, writers, photographers, artists, and makers.

Yvonne Perez Emerson is a spirited explorer. In 2011 she founded WeMake as a passion project and platform to make, learn, and collaborate. Her multi-disciplinary graphic design studio, The Study, is focused on the art of storytelling—both in digital and analogue form. She is also the owner of Tillamook Station, a place to gather and create.

Yvonne enjoys creating community but she also loves adventure. She is an avid motorcyclist, loves hiking, and enjoys a good cup of tea. She lives in NE Portland with her husband Nathan, dog Hank, cat Jack, and bunny Bruno.

Alise Munson fell into the world of animation and brand advocacy through a rabbit hole. In 2005, she was hired to implement the the digital re-branding of Vinton Studios to LAIKA Animation Studio. She continued to guide the LAIKA/house brand into traditional and emerging platforms until July 2014. Now Alise is the Brand Strategist for HouseSpecial, the new independent commercial animation spin-off of LAIKA, handling all public-facing and agency-targeted content for social media, PR and promotions.

In her home state of Colorado, Alise also started her career as a journalist with design skills and pushes her passion for creative, accurate storytelling, a refined understanding of how to ignite and thrive in collaborative teams, and the ability to create effective, beautiful visual communications.

Clay Walsh moved to Portland in 2015 from the Bay Area where she lived for more than 18 years and worked in the marketing, arts and design field. She is an enthusiastic and insightful connector and loves working with people, creatives and artists, so Clay was a naturally drawn to the WeMake team two years ago. As part of our team, she has taken on many roles including conference planner, Treasurer and now as the Board Vice President.

Clay also likes to play. She is an avid cyclist, loves live music, and plays the drums – a passion since she was in her teens. In her professional life, Clay is the Marketing Director for FINE, a branding agency in Portland, and lives in the vibrant Kerns neighborhood with her wife, illustrator Lisa Congdon, cat Margaret and chihuahua Wilfredo.

Amy Frazer is a Portland, Oregon based designer and illustrator. Having studied at theColumbus College of Art and Design, she continues to take lots of workshops and classes to hone her skills, stay fresh and learn new techniques. Amy loves to explore many different mediums such as paint, textiles, embroidery, knitting, digital media, photography, you name it! Through her work she strives to capture the beauty of the world around us and embellish it with her personal mark making. Things made by nature and things made by man are huge inspirations to her.

With extensive experience in product design, Amy enjoys designing objects as well as the prints, patterns and colors that adorn them. She loves to travel and always has a bag packed for her next adventure to the mountains, the sea or a fun city to explore and gather inspiration.

Cinnamon Williams has traveled a long, winding path to find herself in Portland as a CPA. Starting out in the deep north of Alaska, she wanted to explore and find something a little different than the small cabin she grew up in. Her ambition lead her south to a host of different organizations (including LAIKA) and a vast depth of experience - all in the name of accounting. One of Cinnamon's passions, besides skiing, dogs and football, is working with artists, not-for-profits, community based organizations and internet start-ups as they set their financial course. Now, as a Finance Manager at Oregon Metro, she supports the many people who work to keep greens spaces alive, expand conservation and create a wonderful living environment in the Metro region. After you meet her, you won't forget her bright smile, warm heart and some crazy story she tells you about living in Alaska.

Megan Gex is a jack-of-all-trades in the realm of communications. Her passion for human rights inspired her to work as a journalist and marketing specialist in Africa and Asia. Her heart always led her back to her home state of Oregon where she now works as the Communications Manager at the Portland-area non-profit, Literary Arts. Her professional interests lie in visual communications—combining design, photography, and film with a deep love for the written word. In her free time Megan, serves on the Young Patron committee at the Portland Art Museum, tutors teenagers at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization, and lends her writing and editorial skills to the WeMake team. She especially loves working with WeMake because it combines all her passions into one inspirational mission.

Christopher Murphy joined Portland’s creative community in2016 after moving from Richmond, Virginia where he served as the Marketing andPR Director for The Cultural Arts Center and volunteered his time with numerousLGBTQ nonprofits to provide marketing and design support. As he begins to putdown roots here on the west coast with his husband (also named Chris) and their dog “Belvedere”, he is excited to join WeMake as their Education OutreachCoordinator and looks forward to supporting the future of the arts in Portland and its neighboring communities.

Chris continues to freelance through his design business, DigitalEmpire Graphic Design, while maintaining his work on the east coast. Design,film and music are all a big part of his daily life and as a former “Army brat”he loves to travel to new destinations whenever the chance arises. He is happy to call Portland his new home and to contribute to WeMake’s mission!

Alyse Gilbert is a bit like a Swiss Army Knife. She's sharp and has a diverse set of tools at her disposal – Community Development, UX Design and Photography. As a Designer, Alyse seeks out patterns and creates simplicity, structure and execution seamlessly using boxes and arrows, Post-it Notes and Sharpies to connect the dots between people and products. With roots in photography, she captures meaningful stories that impart impact. That's why she's joined the WeMake team as one of our in-house photographers. Alyse strives to continuously push ours imaginations from behind a lens or in front of a screen. When she's not volunteering or working, Alyse is planning her next trip, listening to records or on the hunt for the next best cappuccino in PDX.

WeMake is a non-profit 501C that helps to foster art and design in Portland's creative community through hands-on experiences, creative dialogue, and design in action initiatives. Come make it happen.